CANTON — After nearly 44 minutes of basketball the Creekview girls ran out of steam.

Osborne scored the final six points of the ball game for a 50-48 victory in triple overtime during the semifinals of the Region 7AAAAA basketball tournament hosted by Sequoyah. The Lady Grizzlies led 48-44 after a basket by Dee Blankenship with 1:38 left in the third overtime, but as the Lady Cardinals turned up the pressure on defense, Creekview began turning the ball over. Not only that, but the Lady Grizzlies struggled to rebound on both ends of the court. Osborne’s Raven Brown and Nikira Goings made shots to tie the game before Zutorya Cook made the game-winning basket with 10 seconds on the clock. A long pass

by the Lady Grizzlies was intercepted at mid-court to seal the final score.

Creekview coach Roger Nolan, who had never coached a triple-overtime game previously, admitted that he didn’t substitute enough and his players got tired.

“Our kids got a little tired,” Nolan said. “We didn’t sub a lot and they beat us on the boards. That was the difference at the end. I’m proud of our kids. They kept coming back. (Osborne’s) triangle-and-two defense caused us some problems and we got frustrated. We kept our composure and held the lead most of the overtime, but the ball just didn’t bounce our way.”

The game nearly ended in Creekview’s favor at the end of the second overtime. Free throws by Allison Luly and Lauren Johnson gave the Lady Grizzlies a 3-point advantage with 30 seconds to play. However, Cook’s 3-pointer at the buzzer tied the game at 44-all and forced the third overtime.

The low-scoring game was dominated by the defense and often slowed by offenses stalling the ball. Neither team scored more than nine points in any period other than the first, which ended with an 11-all tie.

Osborne took an 18-15 lead into the second half and held its biggest lead of the second half 2922 when Jazzmon Roase drained a basket to open the fourth quarter. Creekview responded with eight straight points and took a 30-29 lead with 5:26 left in the game. The teams traded free throws until the game was tied at 31-all at the end of regulation. Neither team would lead by as many as four points during overtime until Creekview did so with 1:38 left in the game.

Cook led Osborne with 18 points, including eight in overtime, while Goings added 16.

Creekview was led by Lauren Johnson with 14 points. Blankenship and Luly each finished with 13 points.

With the win, Osborne advances to the region championship today at 6 p.m. against Sequoyah. Following the loss, Creekview will play in the third-place game today at 3 p.m. against Kell.

TELL THE TRUTH... This was the poorest officiated game of the season. The officials did everything they could to create an advantage for Creekview! The worst zebra crew ever! Coach Samuel, who's team is undefeated in region play, coached her team to that victory. Torrey Cook was named player of the year for the region, Nikira Goings was first team all region, Raven Brown was second team all region, and somehow Coach Samuel wasn't named Coach of the Year.

To make matters even worse, Sequoyahs girls coach insisted last night that his team would wear home white uniforms even though his team is the visiting squad because they are the lower seed.

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